Parallel realities
by Alice in Webland
Summary: Sometimes, for a fraction of a second, many parallel realities may coexist and you can catch the only one you're ready to fit in. Not the one you'd like, nor the one you've always dreamt of, or the many others that blend gradually inbetween... - One shot or two, or maybe more. Spoilers for 2x14 and 2x15, and a song that I really hope to hear in the season finale.
1. Chapter 1

_I don't own Suits, nor Donna or Harvey (alas!) or any other character in the series._

Had she only lifted her face up half a second before, she could have caught his eyes in hers while he was saying she was beautiful.  
Sometimes, for a fraction of a second, many parallel realities may coexist and you can catch the only one you're ready to fit in. Not the one you'd like, nor the one you've always dreamt of, or the many others that blend gradually inbetween, just that very one, the one you know better, the most familiar, sometimes miserably so.  
And Donna's reality did not contemplate love. Commiseration maybe. For having thought his words were meant for her instead of Jessica, for being such a fool and letting her guard down again and again.  
Nor did Harvey's reality contemplate it. Partially for the exact same reasons.  
What only Jessica could see instead was their silly dance, like two natural magnets, two orbiting planets, perpetually moving in circles, attracting and repelling each other at the same time. Oh, if it had been up to her, she had forced their eyes wide open and screamed to the top of her voice that life was too short to waste their time shitting around like scaredy cats.  
But guts, everyone has to grow their own. And guts, she had enough of them that day to digest without the slightest flinch what Daniel told her. For a moment she mentally went through all the things she was not any more: not young, not pretty, not sexy, and not of child-bearing age. Amen. She had a date that night. That was something.  
"Someone special?" asked Harvey.  
"You never know... could be the one," she answered, taking a good look at both of them, which promptly went unnoticed.  
She entered the elevator while thinking she should give them another chance that evening. Perhaps a good reason to celebrate would be appropriate.  
She turned to Harvey and added with a smile, "Oh and... Why don't you go ahead and take that damn name down?"  
Harvey couldn't help smiling back at her.  
The elevator doors shut, Jessica disappeared behind them and Harvey turned to Donna beaming with joy. "Yaaaayy!" He exploded while grabbing her waist and lifting her off the ground and around.  
She was laughing hysterically when she landed safely back on the marble floor, her back facing the wooden wall. Still holding her waist, he turned her around to face the letters that composed Hardman's name. Then he leaned in closer, almost hugging her from her back, "See those letters?" He breathed in her ear.  
"Yup!"  
"Any idea on the name we could use to replace them?"  
"Uhm, that's a hard question... let me think... wouldn't it be nice if we wrote Paulsen instead?" she turned, his face an inch from hers and wearing an unmistakable scowl.  
"Spec... Specter?" she muttered almost without breath.  
"Yes, I... gather that's my name... and... Paulsen, you're even more beautiful when you say it."  
"Ok then... Specter... deal: your name, my promotion."  
"Whatever you ask for... Paulsen..." he whispered while his lips almost touched hers.  
"Hey there... sorry, I just wanna reach the elevators... You didn't see me coming, just don't mind to me, sorry again..." Mike's voice almost made them startle.  
"Hey Mike, still in?" said Donna blushing and turning to Harvey's associate.  
"Well, I've just finished reviewing some Folsom Foods files for tomorrow."  
"Perfect timing," uttered Harvey with a hint of exasperation.


	2. Chapter 2

_I don't own Suits, nor Donna or Harvey (alas!) or any other character in the series._

"No, Mike, you're not getting it: it's a perfect timing for a toast!" added Harvey immediately. "Donna and I were just about to have one. It seems we may finally take that damn name down," he said pointing at Hardman's name with his thumb.  
"Really? This must be a sign of some sort, definitely a good sign... Maybe tomorrow we're going to knock him down and get rid of him for good," said Mike.  
"Oh, I've already tried and, believe me, it won't be as easy," laughed Donna while taking a step aside from Harvey.  
"Geez, you know, I saw you high-fiving him in the conference room the other day, I couldn't believe my eyes!" said Mike smiling at her.  
"I thought he deserved a good welcome back," she giggled.  
"Well, apparently I was the only one who was not invited to the Paulsen show... Anyway, why don't you join us, Mike?" asked Harvey.  
"Yep, why not, out to the usual Benson's on the 52nd?"  
Harvey nodded.  
"Ok, you go ahead, I'll drop this bag on my desk and reach you downstairs."  
Donna and Harvey enetered the elevator, he pushed the button for the ground floor, the doors closed and it was deafening silence all around: 47 floors to go, nothing to say.  
Then, past the 24th floor, Harvey bursted out "Everything's-"  
While Donna said simultaneously "It's like-"  
They laughed.  
"You go first." said Donna quickly.  
"I was about to ask if everything's ok, you look pensive."  
"Just a bit tired, let's say it's been a tense week for everyone."  
"Look Donna, if it's about... whatever it was before, I don't want you to equivocate-"  
"I won't, Harvey."  
"No, it's not what you're thinking-"  
"I know," she cut it short while the elevator doors were dinging and opening on the 19th floor.  
"Please Donna, let me-" Harvey stopped talking as soon as he noticed an old-aged couple had materialized behind him and was stepping on.  
Silence again. But this time his eyes were looking for hers while she kept on staring an indefinite point on the elevator wall.

"Donna, please-" he continued while walking down the lobby.  
"Harvey, I don't wanna hear it. It was nothing. You just wanted to celebrate and I was there. It's what you do. You don't have to explain."  
"You just don't know. Things may as well be different."  
"How?" she wondered.  
He suddenly halted while she kept on walking ahead. "Hell..." he said with a puzzled expression and gesticulating in the air as if he was looking for the words he couldn't find, "I don't know how... damn, you're putting pressure on me!" he almost yelled.  
"Who's pushing whom?" she asked in a higher pitch while turning to face him.

They were standing outside the building now, facing each other.  
"Listen Donna, you're probably right. I pushed you outside your comfort zone and I'm sorry. Look, let's say I'm one of your cousins again and Christmas won't be over for a couple of hours more, so that you won't be looking forward to get rid of me while toasting to the bright days to come, ok?"  
She looked at him and smiled slowly.  
"I think I can manage to do that."  
Then she asked smirking "The point is, can you?"  
"I'll do my best." He smiled back at her with an air of sadness.  
"Whatever it is you're talking about, I'm sure he will. So give the man a break, Donna, will you? He looks a wreck." said Mike merrily, approaching them.  
Harvey stared him dead in the eyes.  
"Ok, who's ready for a promotion? I think the drinks are on you, Harvey..." added Mike smiling innocently.


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't own Suits, nor Donna or Harvey (alas!) or any other character in the series._

Wait, was it a slap he was seeing coming? Apparently she hadn't let it go yet... but wait, it looked like she did yestarday. It couldn't be a slap... or could it? She did slap Hardman after all. Was it for something he did, something he didn't do or something he was about to do? Hell, he never knew with Donna. He could easily read Mike, Louis, Jessica, all his collegues and clients, he could read them all... but that woman, that damn woman was still a mystery to him after 14 years. Where were his superpowers? She was like kryptonite.  
He quickly leaned back to dodge it, whatever it was, just in case.  
Donna's hand halted in mid air and she put that expression on her face that always made him feel like a schoolboy who had just been scolded.  
He surrendered like a puppy and her hand got cautiosly closer to his face and upon his head.  
Well, apparently she only wanted to flatten his hair, even though he could still perceive steam waiting to be blown out.  
She sighed nervously and smiled admiring her good work.  
"Now you're ready," she said and he felt like he had just been sent to the gallows.  
He left his office heading for the conference room.  
Dana Scott, she was waiting for him there. That was something he didn't see coming at all.

It is difficult for human minds not to categorize, to always sort things assigning them specific labels: centuries of evolution have taught us to do so and do it quickly in order to survive. It usually works well in the economy of our everyday life. But Donna's feelings for Harvey couldn't be stuffed in a single pigeonhole.  
At times he felt his heart was full. Her love could get through the thinnest crevices of his soul and soak entire deserts.  
Rich men can't imagine poor.

He was late. Dana had been sitting at a window table for more than twenty minutes when he entered the restaurant. He sat down opposite her without the slightest intention to have dinner together. Just a couple of words to put things clear. She wasn't going to put her name on that wall.  
She and her boss, Edward Darby, had popped out of nowhere for a combined legal action against Folsom Foods. But he should have known it wasn't the full story, it never was with her. Her maneuvers had led them in bed together before he could even realize it. If it had been only sex, he could have get over it. But he couldn't when his firm and his career were at stake. Not taking into account the fact she had acted behind his back from the beginning.  
"But I have his promise, Harvey. If we merge, he names me as partner. And Jessica's only choice is you."  
"This is exactly what you always wanted. Get over your pride," she said.  
"I'm not getting over anything," he said standing up, "and this merger isn't happening."  
He had almost reached the restaurant door when he saw her from the corner of his eye. She was wearing a gorgeous dress and was smiling at... wait a minute... it was Robert Campos, one of his clients. The one they agreed she was going to close. But that was a month ago. So this wasn't work anymore. He hesitated a second too long. Bob saw him and motioned him to their table with a smile.  
"Hi Donna, hi Bob, how are you? I didn't want to interrupt your dinner, it looks like you are really enjoying it and I was just leaving."  
When she turned to face him she glimpsed at the tables behind his back and noticed Dana sitting alone at the far end of the restaurant beside the windows.  
That and the expression on his face immediately told her something had gone wrong.

Monday morning Harvey arrived exactly on time. It was eight o'clock on the dot when he was walking down the hall that led to his office. He stopped at Donna's cubicle dropping his bag on the counter and said leaning in "Why didn't you tell me you were dating Bob?"  
"I'm not dating Bob, we agreed I had to schedule dinner together..." she answered.  
"The dinner you have already had three weeks ago," he noted.  
"Yes, but apparently it wasn't enough to close him," she said with a baby smile.  
"Well, enough to have him sign these contracts then," he countered indicating his bag.  
"Ok, you got me. I am dating Bob," she admitted.  
"So, why didn't you tell me?" he insisted.  
"I don't know Harvey, it seems like this time is different..."  
"What do you mean by different?"  
"Just... different. Or maybe... it's just because you're my boss. People don't tell everything to their boss."  
"Ehm, may I remind you how it went the last time you kept things from me?" he smirked.  
"And may I remind you that each and every time I kept things from you it was to save your ass?" she asked.  
"You mean you're dating him to save me? Because in that case you're not doing a great job, you know?"  
"Not everything revolves around you, Harvey." Then she added seeing his sad expression, "Ok... what's the matter with you today, I saw your face at the restaurant Friday night, what happened?"


	4. Chapter 4

_I don't own Suits, nor Donna or Harvey (alas!) or any other character in the series.  
__Please, find that song on Youtube ("You Send Me" by Caught a Gost), pump up the volume, and enjoy this last chapter._

It happened again that morning. Couldn't he just concentrate and talk to her like he had always done?  
Why did he lose control so easily? And this time his eyes had lingered on her lips too long. He could bet his ass she had noticed. It had already happened another couple of times during that awful week. Everytime he had to resist that sudden, unbearable urge to kiss her right on the spot. He'd never thought he could be carried away like that. What was he? A freaking teenager? He was sick, that's what he was. Just sick to the bone of all that rollercoasting.  
He was immersed in those thoughts when she suddenly entered his office closing the glass door beside her.  
"Harvey?"  
"What?" he sturtled and turned to her, looking like he'd just saw hell.  
"What's the matter with you, Harvey? I'm not Norman Bates and this is not a knife, you see? Just a harmless cup of coffee," she put the cup on his desk, right in front of him, with theatrical emphasis.  
"Said his assistant, handing him the lethal goblet."  
"Seriously, Harvey, this merger and all those fights with Mike and Jessica have really shaken your nerves. Thank god this week is over! Maybe you shouldn't drink this. Anyway, you wanted to see me?"  
"Look, it's not the merger or the fact that Mike is leaving... Believe it or not, I've already got over it. Jessica was right: it was the only way to get rid of Hardman forever, balance our books and give the kid a future. It's rather all those expressos you've been feeding me lately... And yes, I wanted to see you." He paused for a couple of seconds and then asked solemnly "Remember that other Miles Davis' of mine? Well, it seems it's just disappeared."  
"Really?" she asked opening her eyes wide.  
"Really."  
She stared back at his inquiring eyes.  
"Donna, come clean or..."  
"I... Well, I..."  
"Just say it, Donna."  
"Ok, I want to come clean, I really want... It's gone."  
"Gone?"  
"Gone."  
"What do you mean 'Gone'?"  
"Gone into pieces... pulverized."  
"Pulverized? What did you do?"  
"I don't know what's got into me... I mean, last week... You and Dana..."  
"Dana? What's Dana have to do with it?"  
"I don't know... what to say... Things are gonna change, I mean Dana is gonna work here and I don't think..."  
"Donna, nothing's gonna change."  
"It is. And the naked truth is I can't work here anymore."  
"What? Are you serious?"  
"I am. And if you don't know it by now..."  
That urge, damn, that urge again. It freezed him.  
By the time he could articulate something, she was already gone.

.§.§.§.§

_Darling you send me_  
_I know you send me_  
_Darling you send me_  
_Honest you do, honest you do_  
_Honest you do, whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh_ - "You Send Me" by Caught a Gost

Rachel had dragged her to the merger party that same evening. She was litterally devastated. But it was her last time at Pearson-Whatsoever. Dammit, her very last time. She had to be perfect and just move over. Fuck Harvey. Fuck all. She had already drunk up two glasses of champagne when she approached the stairs that led down to the Skylight studio. Rachel was at her side and the room was packed with people she barely knew. Some Miles Davis was playing in the background.

"Geez, Harvey, my heart is skipping a beat! Look at her, isn't she beautiful?"  
"She is," said Harvey under his breath as soon as he had turned towards the stairs, "so beautiful it hurts..."  
Mike snapped back from that extatic vision, turned quickly to look at him and follow his eyes with apprehension. When he realized where they landed, his jaw almost hit the floor: it was definitely not Rachel they were glued to. His gaze captured again by the gorgeous paralegal, Mike relaxed and said smiling "Glad we can both see daylight, eventually."

"Hey Mike, you look dashing! And Harvey, you make a perfect James Bond," said Rachel.  
"Who ever loved that loved not at first sight? Rachel, you look so beautiful..." said Mike.  
Harvey gave a hint of a smile, trying hard not to forget to breathe while his eyes were still on her.  
"Oh, don't mind at him, he's just seen the light," said Mike.  
"Well... Halleluyah! What light anyway?" wondered Rachel.  
"The light," said Mike nodding towards Donna.  
"Oh, now I see it..." said Rachel, following Donna's eyes. She snorted and then winked at the table with the refreshments.  
"Would you mind if we... ?" asked Mike taking Rachel by the arm and heading towards the drinks.  
Nobody seemed to mind at all.  
As soon as Rachel and Mike were gone, he said "Moneypenny, a feast for my eyes!"  
He took her hand, kissed it and put it on his chest. Donna could feel his heart beating like crazy.  
Still holding his hand on it, he leaned in and whispered very slowly in her ear "I, love, you."  
He leaned back smirking at her puzzled face and added with a frown, "What? The score is not to your liking? Naa, it can't be, you adore Miles Davis... Wait, that's it! I got it wrong. Please, repeat it then. To make sure I do get it this time."  
"Is it the code-word I gave you, James?" she asked feeling dizzy and not so sure the earth was still spinning, let alone of her getting the reference.  
"Yeah... honest."  
"Well James, in that case..." she leaned in and breathed in his ear, "I think... I, love, you... too."  
"I was right then, Moneypenny," he protested, "about the code-word..."  
She gave him a scolding look.  
"Oh, now I get it... you mean I'll have to rescue you from this boring party."  
When Jessica started looking for them that night they had long disappeared from everybody's sight.


End file.
